[MLS SPOTLIGHT] The first week of action since closure of the domestic transfer window raised myriad issues that will shape the final push for playoff spots. With five more rounds of Concacaf Champions League matches scheduled before the end of the league season, plus a steady diet of midweek MLS ... Read the whole story

[SCOREBOARD] In Sunday action, Sporting Kansas City jumped two spots into second place in the Eastern Conference with a 1-0 win over D.C. United, while the Chicago Fire jumped two places out of the basement into sixth place with a 2-0 victory over Toronto FC for only its third win ... Read the whole story

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Jozy Altidore scored two goals to give Dutch club AZ a 4-0 win over NEC, while Herculez Gomez and DaMarcus Beasley both had goals in winning efforts in Mexico. Gomez's goal in the 89th minute gave Estudiantes Tecos a 2-1 win over Pachuca in Coach Raul Ariqas' first ... Read the whole story

[WPS] Tasha Kai scored just seconds into the second half and Amy Rodriguez added a late goal to give the Philadelphia Independence a 2-0 win over magicJack in Women's Professional Soccer's super semifinal before 5,410 fans at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Read the whole story

[USL PRO] Top seed Orlando City needed overtime to beat the Charleston Battery, 3-1, before 7,609 fans at the Florida Citrus Bowl to advance to USL PRO's American Division final. Other divisional semifinal winners were the Richmond Kickers, Rochester Lancers and Harrisburg City Islanders. Read the whole story

[SCOREBOARD] Pacific Northwest soccer fever is so strong the Portland Timbers drew a crowd of 10,077 at JELD-WEN Field for their 3-2 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps ... in a MLS Reserve League match. For all the weekend action ... Read the whole story

[UNDER-20 WORLD CUP] A hat trick from Oscar gave Brazil a 3-2 overtime win over Brazil for its fifth Under-20 World Cup title, matching its haul in the World Cup and giving it only one less than the record six U-20 championships won by archrival Argentina. Read the whole story

"I am prepared to forget about a lot of things, but not that. It is not remotely funny."-- Belgian club Lierse SK's Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, whom Beerschot fans taunted with chants of "Kawashima-Fukushima." Kawashima left the game, which was temporarily stopped by the referee for several minutes after the chants, in tears. Radiation leakage from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant after the March earthquake and tsunami, which left over 20,000 people dead or missing, forced the evacuation of 100,000 people. (AFP) ...More